Smithsonian.com

Happy 175th Birthday, Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri, o175 years ago today. Author of such literary classics as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain's famous wit makes him just as relevant today as...

By
Jamie Simon

smithsonian.com
November 30, 2010

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri, o175 years ago today. Author of such literary classics as
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,The Prince and the Pauper and
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Twain
's famous wit makes him just as relevant today as he was a century ago
.

"I remember reading
The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County as a 7th grader," says curator Frank Goodyear of the National Portrait Gallery. Though many may have been introduced to Twain through their school's curriculum, his works persist because of their strong voice and whimsical sense of story. Twain is "pioneering because he brought dialects into literature," Goodyear continued. He had a "keen interest in human foibles" and was able to "see through to the real shortcomings, anxieties and hypocrisy" that make his characters so believable.

This intimacy created with his readers might explain the
runaway success of his newly released and unexpurgated autobiography (versions of which have been published before in 1924, 1940 and 1959), but this one was released in its entirety 100 years after his death, as Twain requested.

"I think we never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead--and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead, and they would be honest so much earlier." - As quoted in Mark Twain in Eruption by Bernard DeVoto

And of his own death:

"It has been reported that I was seriously ill—it was another man; dying—it was another man; dead—the other man again. . . As far as I can see, nothing remains to be reported, except that I have become a foreigner. When you hear it, don't you believe it. And don't take the trouble to deny it. Merely just raise the American flag on our house in Hartford and let it talk." - Letter to Frank E. Bliss, 11/4/1897

Perhaps with this autobiography, new facets of the seemingly transparent, yet very complex writer can come to light. "He's human and his characters are human," says Goodyear. "He's genuine and authentic. . . everyone loves Mark Twain."

Tags

We Recommend

The Leading Hotels of the World invites you to discover some of the most remarkably uncommon destinations from around the globe. Explore Morocco, Switzerland and Uruguay with this fresh take on old cliches

A Selection of Books and Courses Featuring New Exhibitions and Smithsonian Research

The Smithsonian Institution has entered affiliate agreements with the companies listed in our holiday shop, and earns a fee for every purchase made from following any link from these gift guide pages and making a purchase on the affiliate site. This fee helps fund Smithsonian’s activities.

The Smithsonian is a repository of America's history, achievements, aspirations, and identity. It holds the artifacts of great leaders, and those of ordinary Americans. It houses scientific specimens and technological wonders. It is home to art, music, films, writings-a vast treasure trove of objects of extraordinary beauty and outstanding design.

Kennewick Man: The Scientific Investigation of an Ancient American Skeleton (Peopling of the Americas Publications) [Douglas W. Owsley, Richard L. Jantz] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Almost from the day of its accidental discovery along the banks of the Columbia River in Washington State in July 1996